Very good and interesting question. I remember clearly when both albums were released. I remember the vibe of those times. Always living in L.A., the singles from both of those albums were played to DEATH. I remember buying Off The Wall the day it came out. I bought P's album a few days after it was released. Since I was 4, I adored the J5. Grew up digging Micheal. Off The Wall is a masterpiece of an album. P's second album is actually one of my favorite of ALL of P's albums to this day. It's only second to the 1999 album. With all that said, overall, of course, OTW is the funkier album. Not just the material, but the production and the performances. Micheal's vocals DESTROY's P's somewhat timid falsetto. At that stage, Michael's vocals were the most confidents and the most strongest. I must say that by the time MJ got around to releasing his GLOBAL takeover album with Thriller in 82, P had got his shit together by releasing 3 more albums while Mike was working on one album. Dirty Mind, Controversy and his masterpiece, 1999. Which MURDERS THRILLER in every aspect.

Something that must be considered into all of this is what both artists WEANTED to achieve with these albums. Michael, already a mega superstar before the release of OTW, just wanted a very good album that blended the best of soul and disco. With excellent songwriting and working with a legendary producer who UNDERSTOOD Michael's real talent, they achieved this and so much more. P on the other hand, was only fucking with his second album. He KNEW he wanted to showcase as many genres as he could. THAT was his main objective. And at the same time, writing some of his best well crafted songs. They had totally different agendas because they were in two different places. A superstar who had been a supersar all of his life. And a mega talented unknown who was laying down the blueprint for what he would later go on to do.

blackguitaristz said:

That about sums it up.

In reading a few books on Micheal, it has been written that Mike was very aware of Prince. Him adding "Beat It" to Thriller was largely because of P's working with rock.

blackguitaristz said:

I so agree with you. And I think the reason why Off The Wall sounds so organic is because Michael wasn't trying to take over the world at that time, he just wanted to experiment away from his brothers, so everything sounds so spontaneous. Also I love the way it was funky without actually being a funk album. By the time he does Bad he is thinking about 100million record sales so we get a Michael that starts to sound very contrieved.

By 79 I didn't know much about Prince, but I did know the song "I wannabe your Lover" which funnily enough I thought were the Jacksons initially. When I Prince first came to my attention properly with Purple Rain I didn't even think he was that funky-although he reminded me of Rick James without the funk- I thought he was more rocky than anything else. It's only when I listened to his earlier work and the things that he has done since then that I have realised just how funky prince has always been.

I suppose we'll never know unless we're able to turn back the clock and (a) let Quincy Jones produce both artists or (b) have them both work independently of his considerable influence.

whatsgoingon said:

The main thing that I dug about P from the get, was his guitar playing and his rock based material. As young as I was, as a kid, easily since I was 8, I ALAWYS dug and listened to rock bands. So I KNEW where P was coming from. Even at that stage, I could hear in P's playing, besides Jimi and Carlos, bands like Forienger and Styx and Journey. P wanted to showcase THAT, I think, more than anything at that stage. P really wanted to distance himself from other black artists. From the get go. Not just his music but with his image as well. He always wanted to be big with a white audience. White radio wasn't going to fuck with P because P was black. This was 79 when rock hated anything remotely close to disco, which they identified as black. And gay. And P, in 79, was very much related to a "gay" image. MANY people, white and black, at that time believed P to be gay. He wanted to give that a cross for some reason and he did it. That was just another way to distance himself from other black artists. He KNEW most brothers wouldn't be caught dead doing what P was doing, image wise. So it was wide open for him.

Damn...some of the most intelligent post I have read here in ages are on page two of this thread..RIGHT ON Y'ALL !
]
[Edited 8/26/07 14:14pm]

prettymansson said:

I was thinking the same thing bro.. Keep it coming peeps.

blackguitaristz said:

Very good points made. Do U think that at the heart of it MJ could be JUST AS Funky as Prince?? Maybe at the time he just had good direction with Quincy Jones. Now I am only 26 so I wasn't around at that time period. So maybe U would know more than I would about what was going on at the time. But when I listen 2 'Off The Wall' it just makes me think how MJ could have really given Prince problems if he stayed Funky like that.

Off the Wall is Micheals 1999, not the "big One" but better song for song

Bishop31 said:

Well, as I said before I think Michael is naturally funky, check out his Destiny and Triumph albums, as well as the latter stuff the J5 did with Motown i.e. Get It Together, Dancing Machine and Hum Along and Dance, he is a true pupil of JB, the master of funk. But after Off The Wall and even more so after Thriller he just wanted world domination and at the time it meant being as mainstream as possible. At the time being "too funky" would have been equated as being "too black" and we know how Michael handle all of that.

yeah micheals background and grooming is more rooted in funk/having all them damn siblings makes a brotha funky LOL. Prince is what he is, minny is very white and his influences were more broad.now as a musician he's mastered funk and funk guitar but micheal's foundation was more solidly entrenched in black music.

dreamshaman32 said:

Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" was definately the better album. Actually, it's Michael's best album ever. It has a great funky disco vibe to it and is a much stronger album than any of Michael's solo releases that followed.

I think the reason "Off The Wall" sounds so much better than Michael's other stuff, is that he was still in constant contact with his brothers at the time. The people you are surrounded by definately influence you. Michael had just gotten finished working with them on the "Destiny" album and continued working with them on the "Triumph" album. The "Destiny", "Off The Wall", and "Triumph" years were definately the best music coming from any of The Jacksons, including Michael.

MJ all the way...

Prince wasn't ready to handle MJ yet....That would be some years to come...

Great replys everybody. This is the 1st MJ/Prince thread I have seen where both Artists were discussed with NO HATING goin' on. It goes 2 show that the "Off The Wall" album was just that damn good.

FuNkeNsteiN said:

It's true

vainandy said:

i'm a bigger mj fan, so my obvious answer is mj. But prince's voice was sooo fab in the late 70's, and right up there with mj's falsetto. His sound was also different and futuristic, while mj's was enjoyable dance music with a funky twist to it. In fact, I don't think prince and quincy would have collaborated well, because prince is a power trip that way, and wouldn't agreed to be controlled over what to put and what not to put on an album the way mike was advised. Prince and quince (ha!) would have sounded contrived if you ask me. I like comparing off the wall and 1999 more though, because both were their big solo hit albums before the major breakthrough with thriller and purple
[Edited 8/27/07 17:40pm]

vainandy said:

people sleep on triumph but that album is THE BOMB !

Prince's album Prince is ALL Prince.

Take away everything that is not, or was not originated by MJ on OTW and there is not much left.

Did he write the music of the songs?.....NO!
Did he pen the lyrics to the songs?.....NO!
Did he play any instruments on any of the songs?.....NO!
Did he produce the album?.....NO!

MJ may be good at what he does, but when it really comes down to a true artist with them being the sole creator in all aspects of their art, MJ is not even a true or fair comparison to someone like Prince!

If music is art then Prince is Salvador Dali.....

Michael Jackson is still just painting by numbers!!!!!

mentalist said:

Um, what are you talking about? MJ wrote three songs on OTW including "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" which was the albums biggest hit. He also co-produced a few songs on the album. OTW and Thriller are the only two albums where MJ didn't do the majority of the writing so I really don't know what you're going on about.

This thread is just about comparing those two particular albums so who cares if MJ didn't do the whole thing himself? That's not the point. Stop trying to turn this into a typical "MJ aint s**t compared to Prince" thread. It's tired.
[Edited 8/27/07 20:20pm]

Cinnamon234 said:

Thanx Cinnamon. This is what I was NOT trying 2 get into. This is about the ALBUMS & not who played what instruments or wrote the songs. I'm really not trying 2 get into a pissing contest between Prince & MJ...because honestly speaking when MJ was on the stage Funking it up Prince was WATCHING him on the stage Funkin it up. SO please don't get it twisted & try 2 discredit MJ because he didn't play all the instruments.

The question was "Which album is Funkier..OTW or Prince??" Thats it. PEace

Yes it was. Jams like "Lovely One" and "Walk Right Now" are some of The Jacksons' funkiest jams ever. This is the kind of stuff I would have rather seen Michael continue doing rather than the overdone pop stuff he did on his own. His brothers were a great influence on him.

"Thriller" kind of ruined Michael Jackson. Even when he got back together with his brothers on the "Victory" album, you could tell that Michael was leading them down the pop path again and trying to get a major hit. In the years before "Thriller", their music felt like they were just jammin' and didn't give a damn about major sales.

mentalist said:

That goes to show you know very little about Michael. It's true he can't play every single instrument and he doesn't alway write all of his songs, but as someone said he did write Don't Stop Till You get enough and Working Day and Night as well co-writing songs like Get on the Floor. And as well that he and his brothers wrote and produced most of the songs from their classic albums Destiny and Triumph, which people too often ignore.

That's probably why those are two of my favorites. They have more input from The Jacksons and less input from outsiders. They are just great funky albums without the group trying to "conquer the world" with all these various musical styles and guest artists.

Two great albums, enough said

Bishop31 said:

Thats right - I think you will have a hard time finding anyone here
finding fault with OTW. So much better than Thriller.

destiny and triumph kick ass. Sometimes I enjoy those way more than off the wall, probably cause they have the 'jackson' sound to them and off the wall has the 'quincy' sound to it, as awesome as it is and all